The World renowned trainer Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain believes that including pro boxers in the Olympics is bad for the sport, particularly the “essence of amateur boxing”.

“They will ruin the essence of amateur boxing. I don’t understand how a professional that practices this discipline to make a living would risk that for a tournament like this one,” Beristain said in an article from PhilBoxing.com.

“I think this is a complete mixture of nonsense. The way judges evaluate amateur and professional boxing is different, the way they punch is way different.”

The 76-year-old “Nacho, who is from Veracruz, Mexico, has been a boxing trainer for decades and was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame as a trainer in 2006. Beristain was also inducted as a trainer to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2010.

Beristain is well-respected in the boxing community as he also fought as an amateur boxer in the light flyweight division and then turned professional. Injuries cut his pro boxing career short and he moved on to managing boxers before getting involved in training.